Apparatus for feeding cleats to box-making machines



Sept 12, 1961 I D. G. KINGsLx-:Y ETAL 2,999,615

APPARATUS FOR FEEIDING CLEATS TO BOX-MAKING MACHINES Original FiledSept. 20, 1954 F IG. /46 /6 FIG. 2 /05 u I' VENToR @av/'d G. K%gs/ey BYL. 5mn/ey Hayward F G 5 Msi/wf?, MF4

ATTORNEYS.

2,999,615 APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CLEATS T@ BOX-MAKING MACHiNES David G.Kingsley, Mountain Lakes, and L Stmey Hayward, Morris Plains, NJ.,assignors to Stapiing Machines Co., Rockaway, NJ., a corporation ofDeiaware riginai application Sept. 20, 1954, Ser. No. 457,066, newPatent No. 2,827,201, dated Mar. 18, 1958. Divided and this applicationApr. 19, 1957, Ser. No. 659,453 1 Ciaim. (Cl. 221--13) This inventionrelates to apparatus for dispensing cleats to wirebound box-makingmachines of the type disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,304,510,issued December 8, 1942.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 457,066, iiledSeptember 20, 1954, now Patent No. 2,827,- 201, issued March 18, 1958.

In such machines, properly assembled cleats and side material or slatsare conveyed beneath a transverse bank of stapling units by whichstaples are driven over longitudinally extending binding wires, throughthe side material or slats and into the cleats to form wirebound boxblanks. Each of these box blanks comprises a plurality, usually four,box sections or sides which are oldably secured together by the bindingwire. The cleats are trequently provided with mitered ends which fitsnugly together whenV the box blanks are folded around to set up thebox. Where the box has oblong ends, two lengths of cleats are required,with alternate sections of the box blanks having cleats of diierentlength.

The cleats and side material or slats are conveyed through thebox-making machine by continuously moving conveyor bands which carryadjustably positioned projecting push elements whichl engage the cleatsand side material or slats and maintain their properly assembledrelationship.

In United States Patent No. 2,658,631, issued November 10, 1953, thereis disclosed apparatus for mechanically dispensing cleats into properposition in the spaces ahead of the push elements on the conveyor bandsof a wirebound box-making machine. This apparatus eliminates some of themanual labor which has previously been required inthe laying of cleatsand thereby enables a substantial reduction in the cost of producingwirebound boxes and crates.

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement over theinvention of said Patent No. 2,658,631, to the end of achieving a moredependable supply of cleats to the conveyor bands of wireboundbox-making machines. The invention provides a dual safety gate havingone member which opens to permit egress of two adhering cleats, thusclearing a slight cleat jam without interrupting production of thebox-making machine while its other member opens only in the event of aserious cleat jam or other malfunction and the opening of this secondmember stops the conveyor lbands in order to prevent possible damage tothe elements involved.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the lower portion of a gravity feed-type cleatdispensing device embodying features or the present invention including,at its output end, a dual member safety gate end, and, at its oppositeend, means for positioning tilted cleats.

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 except that the members of thesafety gate and the elements for positioning tilted cleats are shown inoperative position.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the end of the apparatus whichappears at the right in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional View taken on line 11S-15 of FIGURE 1.

2,099,615 Patented Sept. 12, 1961 The cleat dispensing apparatus inwhich the invention is employed is adapted to be supported by one of thepair of longitudinally extending side rails which form part ofconventional wirebound box-making machines as disclosed in theaforementioned Patent No. 2,304,510. Gne of said side rails ispositioned at each side of the machine to support the conveyor bands.While each of the side rails bears cleat dispensing apparatus, it isdeemed suiiicient to illustrate and describe only one of the dispensingunits, since they are identical except for reversal of parts.

As may be seen in FIGURE 4, each of the side rails is built up from apair of angle members A and B which are bolted together in spacedrelationship. T o the upper surface of outer angle member B the cleatdispensing unit it detachably mounted at a convenient point adjacent theinput end of the machine while the inner angle member A supports theconveyor bands C with its attached cleat pushing members V. Theconstruction of said unit is generally similar to that of the cleatdispensing unit disclosed in the aforementioned PatentNo. 2,658,631. Thepresent invention provides means to regulate the egress of cleats fromthe hopper of the dispensing device and also includes mechanism forcorrectly positioning any cleats which are tilted so that their leadingends rest atop the push iin of one of the cleat spacing members. As maybe seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, this mechanism includes an angular-shapedpresser foot 104 pivotally mounted at its upper end on the outwardlyprojecting end of a bar 106 by a screw 105. The opposite end of this bar106 is pivotally attached at 107 to an inverted L-shaped bracket 10S(FIGURE 4) which is adjustably Secured to the cross brace 110 of thecleat dispensing device by a clamp member 112 which is clamped againstthe outer face of the cross brace 110 by a screw 113- which extendsthrough the member 112 and is threaded into the bracket 108. Thehorizontal lower portion 104@ of the angular-shaped presser foot 104 isurged downwardly by a compression' spring 114 interposed between it andthe underside of bar 106 and guided on studs 116. The overhangingportion of the inverted L-shaped bracket 103 supports therein twospaced` adjustable screws 113 and 120. The screw 118, which ispositioned directly above compression spring 114, extends downwardlyinto the upper end of a compression spring 122 which is interposedbetween the overhanging portion 109m of bracket 108 and theaforementioned bar 106, yielding to allow the free end of bar 106 tomove upwardly when necessary. The bar 106 is normally held inahorizontal position against theforce of spring 122 by the screw 120which engages the upper surface of the bar 106 on the opposite side ofits pivot 107 from the spring 122.

As is shown in FIGURE 2 by broken linesV 124, a cleat in tilted positionwith its leadingl end at such height as to engage the undersurface ofpresser foot 104 is subjected to a frictional drag tending to retard itsforward movement in the direction indicated by the arrow X and cause itto drop into proper position as, shown by full lines 126.

This embodiment of the invention is provided with an alternative type ofmeans for supplying into proper spaces onthe moving Iconveyor bands,cleats of twodiiierent lengths where requiredy by the design of the boxbeing made. As maybe seen in FIGURE 1, there is mounted on the basemember H, in the path of cleat movement, a cleat step member 128 whichis adjustable iongitudinally of the base member. The end of thestepvmember 123 facing in the direction of the oncoming cleats is formedwith `an upwardly inclined bevel 130, which is positioned a shortdistance forward of the trailing end of the bottom cleat 132 in thehopper. As shown by full lines in FIGURES l and 2, the bottom cleat 132is v about to be moved out of the hopper in the direction indicated bythe arrow X by push iin 134 of a cleat spacing member, followed by thecleat 136 from another cleat dispensing device located ahead of thedevice in the direction of movement of the conveyor bands.

The outgoing cleat 132 rests upon the step member 128 and supports theneXt-to-bottom cleat 1411l and the other cleats above it in the stack.The position of the end 130 of the step member 128 is such that theleading end of the cleat 136 from the first cleat dispensing device doesnot reach the step member until after it has passed lbeneath thetrailing end of the next-to-bottom cleat 14? in the stack. This allowsthe cleat 136 to pass freely beneath the cleat 140 without engaging itstrailing end. When the leading end of the cleat 136 does reach the stepmember 12S, it climbs up its beveled end 130, as illustrated in brokenlines in FIGURE 1, in position to support the stack ofcleats as theprecedingcleat 132 moves out of the hopper. By the time the push tin 13Sreaches the trailing end of the neXt-to-bottom cleat 140, the cleat 136will have dropped to a horizontal position on the step member 128 (inthe same position as is occupied by the cleat 132 in FIGURE 2) with thetrailing end of the cleat 136 above the top of the push iin 13S so thatthe push lin 138 cannot engage the trailing end of the next-to-bottomcleat 140. The cleat 145i will thus remain in the hopper until thearrival of its proper cleat space between the push elements on theconveyor bands.

Also shown in FIGURES l and 2 is a dual safety gate which embodiesfeatures of this invention, and which functions to clear minor cleatjams and to prevent damage of the apparatus as -a result of more seriouscleat jams.

Generally, this gate mechanism comprises two gate members which may bemoved independently of each other in a counterclockwise direction -asviewed in FIG- URES l and 2. The outer gate 142 is pivotally mounted atits upper end on a stud 144 threaded into one flange 146 of anupstanding angle 14S and is supported in a plate 151i attached to abracket 152 extending outwardly from flange 146.

Gate 142 is normally in vertical position, as illustrated in FIGURE l,and extends downwardly to such a point as to permit unrestricted passagebeneath it of individual, normally positioned cleats. riihe upperportion of the left-hand side of gate 142, as viewed in FIGURES l and 2,is cut away to provide a notch 154 of suitable depth to receive thereinthe lower portion of the end wall member 156 of the cleat dispensingdevice, thereby establishing a continuous guiding surface for the endsof the cleats as they move downwardly in the hopper and providing apositioning stop for gate 142.

As may be seen with reference to FIGURE l, from the right-hand side ofand adjacent the pivotal end of gate 142 there projects upwardly at anoblique angle a fixed arm 158 having at its upper end a mallet-shapedhead 160 (see FIGURE 14) which Serves as a weight.

The weight 160 urges the gate 142 in a clockwise direction, as viewed inFIGURES 1 and 2, to its normal closing position in which it is shown inFIGURE l. The angle of the arm 158 is such that the force imposed on thegate 142 by the weight 160 is at its maximum when the gate is in closedposition and decreases as the gate is opened in a counterclockwisedirection as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The gate 142, once opened, thusimposes little drag on the cleats passing beneath it.

The effect of the weight 160 keeping the gate 142 closed is augmented bythe force of a light tension spring 162 which extends between a stud 180at the upper end of the arm 158 and another stud 182 projecting from thelower portion of the plate 150.

The gate 142 may be swung open against the resistance of the weightY16() and spring 162 to permit an improperly positioned cleat to passout of the hopper, or to permit the two bottom cleats in the hopper topass out of the hopper simultaneously, as illustrated in FIGURE 2, wherethese two cleats are adhering to each other, for example due toroughness of their interfaces. The opening of gate 142 thus preventspossible damage to the apparatus while avoiding the necessity ofstopping the conveyor bands to clear up minor malfunctions which can becorrected merely by manually repositioning a misplaced cleat or removinga surplus cleat.

As may be Seen particularly in FIGURE 3, the upper gate 164 ispositioned adjacent the inner face of gate 142 with suitable clearanceprovided therebetween to permit each gate to move independently of theother. Gate 164 is also pivotally mounted on stud 144, and is providedwith an integral arm 166 projecting horizontally outward. In the rearface of arm 166 there is threaded a headed screw 168 which has hooked onit the upper end of a comparatively stiff tension spring 170 whose otherend is anchored to a stud 172 threaded into the upper surface of anglemember B.

An electric switch 174 attached to upstanding angle member 148 isarranged to be actuated by arm 166 in the event of a serious jam ofcleats. As indicated by broken lines `176 in FIGURE l, the inner face ofthe lower portion of gate 164 adjacent the ends of the cleats in thestack is inclined downwardly and outwardly to prevent the leading endsof cleats which, for one reason or another, have been tilted upwardlyfrom climbing the inner face of gate 164, `as they are urged to do byfrictional contact with lower cleats which are moving out of the hopper.

However, should the leading ends of the cleats become tilted downwardly,there is danger of a serious jam of cleats, as indicated by thefragmentary portion of cleat 178 shown in broken lines in FIGURE 2. Whensuch a jam of cleats occurs, gate 164 and its arm 166 will be caused tomove in a counterclockwise direction, actuating switch 174 and causingthe conveyor bands to stop, preventing damage to the apparatus andpermitting manual clearing of the cleats involved. The motive means fordriving the conveyor is more fully disclosed in U.S. Patent No.2,924,825, in which FIGURE 1 shows an electrical control circuittherefor, including a stop switch 94 corresponding to the switch `174 ofthe present application.

It will be seen that the apparatus disclosed is capable of reliablydispensing cleats into their proper respective positions on thecontinuously moving conveyor bands of a box-making machine, suchapparatus being relatively foolproof in operation and providingsubstantial safeguards against damage to the apparatus due anyanticipated type of malfunction. It will therefore be appreciated thatthe aforementioned and other desirable objectives have been achieved.However, it should be emphasized that the embodiment of the inventionshown `and described herein is intended as merely illustrative and notas'restr-ictive of the invention.

We claim:

Apparatus for dispensingcleats of generally uniform thickness, saidapparatus comprising a hopper adapted to hold a generally vertical stackof said cleats, a conveyor, motive means for driving said conveyor, pushelements mounted on said conveyor for movement therewith lengthwiseacross the lower end of said hopper, said push elements being spacedapart to receive said cleats lengthwise between them, a base memberextending across the bottom of said hopper, said base member beingspaced from the bottom of said hopper to permit said push elements topass through the bottom of said hopper and engage the bottom cleat insaid stack and push it endwise out of said hopper along said bar member,a pair of exit gates mounted side-by-side in a generally verticalposition at the output end of said hopper, each of said gates beingpivoted near its upper end for outward movement of its lower end, thelower end of the lrst of said gates being spaced above said base membera distancegreater than the thickness of one of said cleats but less thantwice the said thickness and the lower end of the second of said gatesbeing spaced above said base member a distance greater than twice thethickness of one of said cleats but less than three times the saidthickness `and means urging Said gates inwardly toward the ends of thecleats in said stack, said urging means being yieldable to permit saidgates to swing outwardly to increase the spacing of their lower 10 endsfrom said base member, an electric switch connected to control saidmotive means, switch actuating means associated with said second gatefor movement therewith, said switch actuating means being arranged toactuate said switch to stop said motive means upon outward movement ofsaid second gate, whereby said rst 5 stop said conveyor.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,857,881 Scott et al. May 10, 1932 2,599,460 Kingsley et al. June 3,1952 2,658,631 Kingsley NOV. 10, 1953 2,726,013 Rice et al. Dec. 6,-1955 2,731,131 Shannon Jan. 17, 1956 15 2,769,570 Adams Nov. 6, 1956UNTTED STATES PATENT OEETCE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTN Patent NQ 2V999615September 12 1961 David Ga Kingsley et ala certified that error appearsin ihe above numbered pat- It is hereby the said Letters Patent shouldreed as entrequirng correction and that 'corrected below.

Column T line lV Strike out "be".

( S EA L Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDEE Attesting Officer I DAVID L. LADD Commissioner ofPatents

